In NYC, Pearson Texts Are Both Late, and Filled With Errors
2 min read
From NY Daily News:
Not only were books delivered more than a month into the school year in some cases, but the lessons from testing and publishing giant Pearson are poorly planned, too long and full of mistakes.
The texts were needed to support the Common Core rollout in New York, and the texts - ReadyGEN from Pearson - were explicitly recommended by New York City Department of Education.
The mistakes include a third-grade workbook page on the text “The Case of the Gasping Garbage†that asks students questions about another reading entirely, a page in a kindergarten workbook printed upside down, and teachers’ manuals that simply don’t match the student texts.
On the bright side, having an error ridden workbook that includes a page titled "The Case of the Gasping Garbage" provides an unintentionally wonderful opportunity for an impromptu introduction on irony.
And, of course, the response of the NYC DOE is to blame teachers:
Officials said teachers might be having trouble because the materials are new. “Individual teachers have wide discretion over which parts to use, and while some teachers may be struggling during this transition, that doesn’t justify attacks on the instructional value of the curriculum,†said schools spokesman Devon Puglia.
As the Common Core rollout unfolds in states across the nation, we should all get ready as teachers do their best to support and implement flawed policies they played no role in creating.
This would be funny except that it's an example of millions of public dollars being wasted by a reform-minded administration that is failing to educate kids.
